Karakoram Pass
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The Karakoram Pass (5,575 m or 18,291 ft) is the highest pass on the ancient caravan route between Leh, Ladakh and Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. The high altitude was responsible for the deaths of innumerable pack animals, and the route across the Pass was notorious for the trail of bones strewn along the way.
This pass, on the boundary of territory controlled by India and China, plays a major geographic role in the dispute between Pakistan and India over control of the Siachen Glacier area immediately to the west.
It is in a saddle between two mountains and about 45 metres wide. There is no vegetation or icecap and is generally free of snow due to the winds. However, the winds are often very high accompanied by low temperatures and there are frequent blizzards. In spite of all this, the Karakoram Pass was considered a relatively easy pass due to its relatively gradual ascent on both sides, and lack of ice.
[edit] References
- Younghusband, Francis. The heart of the Continent, a narrative of travels in Manchuria across the Gobi desert through the Himalayas, the Pamirs and Chitral in 1884-94. Published: 1897. London.
- Rizvi, Janet. Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia. 1983. Oxford University Press. Reprint: Oxford University Press, New Delhi (1996).
- Rizvi, Janet. Trans-Himalayan Caravans : Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh. 1999. Oxford University Press. New Delhi.
- Schmidt, Jeremy. Himalayan Passage: Seven Months in the High country of Tibet, Nepal, China, India & Pakistan. 1991. The Mountaineers Books, Seattle.
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